Mrs. Ex-Brad Pitt

Yesterday I had lunch and hung out with a new friend. The story of how we met is actually quite interesting. I was looking for yarn at the 100yen shop a few weeks before Christmas (when I bought new yarn almost everyday!) I was trying to decide whether or not I could mix and match yarn by taking it out of the plastic bag when someone said, "do you need any help?" At first I thought the woman who'd asked me worked at the shop, but I soon realized she was just a friendly customer who spoke English. After briefly chatting about yarn, we ended up talking for a while. her English was really good, and she had just moved to Tateyama, so she was looking for people to hang out with. We decided to exchange information and meet again. When I got home, I wanted to make sure that I didn't lose her number, because I really wanted to meet again. When I looked at the paper with her number written on I, I saw my own handwriting, with my own name and number! We had been so busy talking that we never got to the exchanging part! I was bummed because I wasn't sure how we'd ever meet again unless we ran into each other. But the story doesn't end there. A week or two later my vice-principal called me over to his desk when I was in the office. I wasn't sure exactly what he was talking about, but I thought he was asking me something about a woman I met in the store. My first thought was that he was indeed talking about the woman I'd met while buying yarn, but I figured that would be too outrageous. How would she have contacted me? But after more talking, I realized that it WAS the woman, and she had sent a note to my school via a student's mother. I had told her the name of my school, so she knew how to contact me! I was really excited, and we've since met a few times to go to church, eat, and hang out. So, back to yesterday. While we were eating lunch, Mitsu told me that the first time she saw me in the 100yen shop she thought I looked like- wait, you might not believe it because I sure dont't- Jennifer Aniston! I have been learning that many Japanese people think foreigners look like famous people. When I told one of my teachers it today- I expected her to laugh, but instead she looked at me sideways and said, "yeah, you kind of do." Right! But, I guess I should enjoy it while it lasts, because certainly no one at home would compare me to anyone famous- well, perhaps I am occasionally mistaken for Cameron Diaz or Julia Roberts : )